Police overlooked real Osco killer, defense argues

Testimony opens in third trial of Christopher Allen in triple slayings.

Testimony opens in third trial of Christopher Allen in triple slayings.

July 12, 2006|VIRGINIA BLACK Tribune Staff Writer

NEW CASTLE, Ind. -- Defense attorneys contend lead investigator Michael Swanson ignored a promising lead that someone else might have killed three Osco Drug store workers in 1990 despite the fact then-St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Barnes ordered him to follow up on it. Perhaps adding insult to Swanson's injury last fall when he pleaded guilty to stealing $10,000 from a Roseland safe as the town's marshal, defense attorney James Bell also told a jury in opening arguments Monday, "You'll hear testimony that Mike Swanson was recently convicted of obstruction of justice and theft." Much of the evidence will likely be the same as in two previous trials, but the third trial of Christopher Allen on charges that he killed Connie Zalewski, Tracy Holvoet and Scott Dick will take a decidedly different twist as the defense shifts the focus to two other South Bend men. After Stephen Bethel and Curtis Crenshaw were arrested for holding up two convenience stores in 1991 and before Bethel was to be sentenced, jurors were told, Bethel told police he and Crenshaw had cased the Osco store as an easy mark for a robbery and that Crenshaw had told Bethel on the night of the killings, Aug. 25, 1990: "Three people ended up dead because of a robbery, and they didn't need to end up dead." Against the backdrop of two St. Joseph County Jail mug-shot photos projected onto a large screen, Bell also described the scene in which Bethel told police that Crenshaw allegedly dropped what he called a "dirty" gun that had killed people into the St. Joseph River from the LaSalle bridge near the Marriott Hotel that night. In Allen's second trial four years ago, in which he was convicted, Bethel was called to the stand but abruptly ended his testimony, saying, "I'll put my life in danger." The judge at the time struck the testimony from the record, and the state's Court of Appeals overturned Allen's conviction two years ago, saying the jury should have heard Bethel's testimony after all. "Christopher Allen had nothing to do with these crimes," Bell said Monday. "The name of the killer is Curtis Crenshaw. He's a career criminal. He's a thug. And he's the one we should be focusing on in this case." But special prosecutor Michael McAlexander said police did check out Bethel's story 15 years ago and found it lacking, including details of the Osco crimes. Bethel, for instance, said drugs were taken in the Osco robbery, but none were. weapons: a Charter Arms .44-caliber revolver or a single-shot .44 called a Thompson Contender. The retired special agent, Gerald F. Wilkes, also said the Charter Arms is far more common than the Thompson, and far more commonly used in crimes. Wilkes' testimony came as an audiotaped repeat of his testimony at Allen's second trial. Two other witnesses also testified by audiotape, including a St. Joseph County Police Department captain who acknowledged that his memory -- along with everything else -- worked better some time ago. Unlike Allen's second trial, which also was held here, few spectators watched the proceedings. But they included Holvoet's mother, Phyllis, and Holvoet's uncle and aunt. Phyllis Holvoet said during a trial break that it was difficult to watch the trial. "But," she said, "I wouldn't be anyplace else but (here)." It is not known if Allen will testify. He sat quietly between his lawyers, dressed in a light brown suit, and exhibited no evident emotions. The trial is expected to last two weeks.